Tooth brush holder and sterilizer



Aug. 13, 1963 w. G. TYELLEFSEN 3,100,842

TOOTH BRUSH HOLDER AND STERILIZER Filed June 15, 1961 IN VEN TOR. WALTERGOODNl/V TELLfFSE/V ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,100,842 TOOTH BRUSHHOLDER AND STERILIZER Walter Goodwin Tellefsen, Fassaic, NJ., assignorof onefourth to Gerald Leon Ritter, Bergenfield, N..I., onefourth toJohn Charles Kopf, Brooklyn, N.Y., and onefourth to Pasquale CarmineTrotta, Nutley, NJ.

Filed June 15, 1961, Ser. No. 117,374 11 Claims. ((11. 259-51) Thisinvention relates to tooth brush holders and has for its principalobject to provide a tooth brush holder in which the bristles of thebrushes will remain sterilized at all times.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tooth brush holder intowhich tooth brushes may be placed and from which they may be removedwithout touching the bristle end of the brushes.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tooth brush holder whichalso acts as a holder for a cup, the rim and inside of the cup, as wellas the bristles of the brushes, being subjected, when not in use, tosterilizing radiation.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a tooth brush holderin accordance With the above objects which is made of two simple parts,easily separated and cleaned.

- ings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a sectional side view of a tooth brush holder embodying theinvention;

FIGURE 2 is a part-sectional front view of the holder of FIGURE 1; 4

FIGURE 3 is a plan view, partly in section, of the holder of FIGURE 1;and

FIGURES 4 and 5 are fragmentary sectional views of two different formsof the supporting arrangement for the brushes.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, the holder comprises aplate :1 which is adapted to be fastened against the wall in any desiredmanner, indicated by the screw holes in. A housing 2 is preferably madeintegral with the plate 1, as by molding the entire arrangement out ofplastic, or it may be attached to the plate in any desired manner. Thehousing 2 preferably has straight sides 3, a rounded front 4, and aconvex top'S, although the shape of it is not important. The bottom ofthe housing is open, leaving a lower edge 6.

Cooperating with the housing 2 is a member 7, formed of the samematerial as the housing, and made in the form of a collar, open at thetop to provide an upper edge '8 and also at the bottom to provide alower edge 9, the upper edge 8 having the same configuration as thelower edge 6 of the housing. The member 7, however, is smaller inoverall width than the overall width of the housing and the wallsthereof preferably slope inwardly towards the bottom, as shown in thefigures. The arrangement is such that the distance between the edge 6 ofthe housing and the edge 8 of the member 7 is the same at the sides andfront.

The member 7 is preferably made detachable from the plate 1, so that itmay be easily removed for cleaning purposes. To this end any'suitabledetachable connection may be provided. In FIGURE 1, however, I haveshown a pair of opposed, curved flanges 9 and 1h, integral with theplate, between which a portion of the back 11 of the member 7 may slide.The flanges are horizontal when the holder is in place on the wall, andthe member 7 may be removed by sliding it towards the right, as shown inFIGURE 2. A suitable stop 12 may be provided to prevent the portion ofthe back 11 transformer or voltage regulator.

3,100,842 Patented Aug. 13, 1963 from being pushed all the Way throughand to stop it in the proper position with respect to the housing 1.

FIGURES 4 and 5 show fragmentary sections of two diiferent arrangementsof the member 7 and housing 1. In FIGURE 4, the member 7 is shownmounted below the lower edge 6 of the housing a distance slightlygreater than the width of the tooth brush 13 at the bristle end, whilethe upper edge 8 of the member 7 is spaced horizontally from the loweredge 6 of the housing a distance just a little greater than thethickness of the tooth brush handle 14. With this arrangement, a toothbrush may be held horizontally and the bristle end of the brush with thebristles pointing inwardly may be inserted between the edge 6 and thehousing 1, and the handle 14 of the brush brought downwardly to leavethe brush suspended with the bristles resting on the upper edge 8 of themember 7.

In the arrangement of FIGURE 5, Which may be preferred, the upper edge 8of the member 7 is just sufliciently below the lower edge 6 of thehousing to permit the detachment of the member 7. However, the member 7is smaller in overall width in this case, so that the horizontaldistance between the lower edge 6 of the housing and the upper edge 8 ofthe member 7 is slightly wider than the width of the bristle end of thebrush 13. With this arrangement the brush may be held with handlevertical and the bristles pointing in a direction parallel with thesides of the housing and the bristle end inserted between the member 7and the housing 1. Then the brush may be turned so that the bristlesface inwardly and the brush will be supported with the bristles restingon the upper edge 8 of the member 7, as before. In this form, less ofthe radiation will pass out of the space between the two members thanwith the other.

A desirable-feature of the invention is the continuous sterilization ofthe brushes supported in the holder. To this end I provide a source 15of sterilizing radiation within the housing 1, located at about thecenter thereof, so that radiation will fall on the bristles of all thebrushes in the holder. This source may be one of the standard electriclamps for emitting ultraviolet light which are now on the market. Asuitable socket 16 for the lamp may be attached to a container 17 whichmay be mounted in the housing and which house the necessary A cord (notshown) may be provided for connecting to the electric light circuit, or,of course, the lamp may be operated by batteries, if desired.

A feature of the invention is the double purpose of the member 7: thatof serving to hold a cup 18 as well as the tooth brushes. In order toaccomplish this, the member 7 is provided at its lower edge 9 withasubstantially semicircular inwardly turned flange 19 into which the rim20 of the cup willeasily fit. The flange, of course, is eliminated atthe front to permit the cup to be inserted and withdrawn while standingin front of the holder.

It will be evident from an inspection of the several figures thatradiation from the source 15 will not only bathe the bristles of anybrushes that are in the holder, but will also fall upon the rim 20 ofthe cup 18 as well as the inside of the cup. Thus the brushes and thecup will be sterilized at all times.

It will be noted that there are no individual slots or notches for thebrushes. This means that the number of brushes that can be inserted inthe holder is limited only by the width of the brushes and the distancefrom the plate 1 around the edge of member 7 and back to the plateagain. Although, in use, the front of the holder will probably be leftfree of brushes so that the cup may be easily withdrawn, there is noreason why brushes can not be inserted at the front, if desired.

A small shelf 21 may be provided on the inner wall of the member 7, nearthe upper edges thereof, and this shelf may extend inwardly and upwardlyto catch any drip which might fall from any brush and prevent it fromreaching the cup.

As has already been stated, the member 7 may be easily removed forcleaning by sliding it to the right until the portion 11 of the back ofthe member has been moved clear "of the flanges 9 and 10'. This sameprocedure is used to remove and renew the ultraviolet lamp 15.

It will be evident from the above description that I have provided atooth brush holder which is simple in construction, facilitates easyinsertion and withdrawal of the brushes without touching the bristles,acts at the same time as a cup holder, and, more important, maintainsboth the brushes and the cup in a sterile condition at all times.Variations of what has been shown and described may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention, and I do not thereforedesire to limit myself except by the limitations contained in theappended claims.

What I desire to claim and secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A tooth brush holder comprising a housing open at the bottom, amember open at the top and having an upper edge with the sameconfiguration as the lower edge of said housing, and means forsupporting said member below said housing, the overall width of theupper edge of said member being less than the overall Width of the loweredge of said housing, such that the horizontal component of the distancebetween the two edges at all points is less than the overall dimensionof the toothbrush at the bristle end, measured lengthwise of thebristles, while the space between the edges is greater than the width ofsaid toothbrush at the bristle end, measured transversely of thebristles, so that the space between said edges is suflicient to permitthe insertion of the bristle end of said tooth brush, whereby said toothbrush may be inserted into said space between said member and saidhousing and suspended so that the bristles of said brush rest upon theedge of said member.

2. A tooth brush holder, as defined in claim 1, further comprising asource of radiation within said housing with the radiation directedtowards the sides and open bottom of said housing.

3. Atooth brush holder, as defined in claim 2, in which the member isalso open at the bottom, further comprising a pair of flanges extendinginwardly on opposite sides of the bottom edge of the member adapted toreceive the rim of a cup for supporting said cup below said member andin the path of the radiation from the source.

4. A tooth brush holder, as defined in claim 3, further comprising aninwardly and upwardly extending shelf near the upper edge of the memberfor preventing any drip from a tooth brush in said holder from passinginto a cup supported by said member.

5. A tooth brush holder, as defined in claim 1, further comprising aninwardly and upwardly extending shelf lnear the upper edge of the memberfor catching any drip from the bristles of a brush supported in saidholder.

6. A tooth brush holder comprising a supporting plate, adapted to bemounted on a vertical plane, a housing mounted on said plate and havingan open bottom, a mem ber open at the top and having an upper edge withthe same configuration as the lower edge of said housing, said memberhaving an overall width less than the overall width of said housing byan amount slightly greater than twice the width of the bristle end of atooth brush, measured transversely of the bristles, and means forremovably mounting said member on said plate just below the lower edgeof said housing, whereby after insertion, a tooth brush may be suspendedby its bristles resting on the upper edge of said member.

7. A tooth brush holder, as defined in claim 6, further comprising asource of radiation within the housing with the radiation directedtowards the open bottom of said housing.

8. A tooth brush holder, as defined in claim 7, in which the member isalso open at the bottom, further comprising a pair of flanges extendinginwardly on opposite sides of the bottom edge of the member adapted toreceive the rim of a cup for supporting said cup below said member andin the path of the radiation from said source.

9. A tooth brush holder, as defined in claim 8, further comprising aninwardly and upwardly extending shelf near the upper edge of the memberfor preventing any drip from a tooth brush in said holder from passinginto a which the housing and plate are integral and the means .5

for removably mounting the member on said plate comprises securing meanson said plate and means on said member adapted to cooperate with saidsecuring means when said member is moved in a predetermined directionwith respect to said plate.

11. A tooth brush holder comprising a supporting plate, adapted to bemounted in a vertical plane, a housing mounted on said plate and havingan open bottom, a member open at the top and having an upper edge withthe same configuration as the lower edge of said housing, said memberhaving an overall Width less than the width of said housing by an amountslightly greater than twice the thickness of a tooth brush handle, andmeans for removably mounting said member on said plate below saidhousing so as to leave a space between each side of the lower edge ofsaid housing and the corresponding edge of said member sutficient toinsert the bristle end of a tooth brush, whereby after insertion, atooth brush may be suspended by its bristles resting on the upper edgeof said member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,993,460 Steuernagel Mar. 5, 1935 2,572,697 Buckner .Oct. 23, 19512,592,131 Farrar Apr. 8, 1952

1. A TOOTH BRUSH HOLDER COMPRISING A HOUSING OPEN AT THE BOTTOM, AMEMBER OPEN AT THE TOP AND HAVING AN UPPER EDGE WITH THE SAMECONFIGURATION AS THE LOWER EDGE OF SAID HOUSING, AND MEANS FORSUPPORTING SAID MEMBER BELOW SAID HOUSING, THE OVERALL WIDTH OF THEUPPER EDGE OF SAID MEMBER BEING LESS THAN THE OVERALL WIDTH OF THE LOWEREDGE OF SAID HOUSING, SUCH THAT THE HORIZONTAL COMPONENT OF THE DISTANCEBETWEEN THE TWO EDGES AT ALL POINTS IS LESS THAN THE OVERALL DIMENSIONOF THE TOOTHBRUSH AT THE BRISTLE END, MEASURED LENGTHWISE OF THEBRISTLES, WHILE THE SPACE BETWEEN THE EDGES IS GREATER